rerun of the previous election. this time the stakes are higher for europe and the rest of the world. macron collected a few more points than le pen. macron is seen as a movement when he was first elected. now he s the incumbent, and there s anger over his reforms. le pen can has had a much closer relationship to president putin. there are questions about a future relationship with russia and nato. turnout has been lower in this first round of the election. reporting from paris.
to france, because this is a far-right politician, anti-immigrant, very close to putin, as i said. it would have major implications for europe, and the ability of the west, which has been so united, to remain united in the focus of ukraine. it would be a real blow. the good news is that macron was ahead, in fact, by a larger margin than he was five years ago, so hopefully the people of france will deliver the verdict that not only the french but the rest of the world needs. i take the ambassador s point. it also shows you how tenuous these alliances are. that as we are having this conversation, there are still many elements that are in flux. look, in terms of ukraine and le pen, you know, the russians deny, you know, these atrocities. and what s interesting is that this is the same playbook that we saw in the war in bosnia. you know, there were shelling of marketplaces in sarajevo and the
we need them to win that war. may 9 is a big holiday in russia, called victory day. it is tied to when the soviets helped defeat the nazis in world war ii. which is a very important thing that putin is going to play to. he always uses historical days as something to celebrate or make symbolism. so the fact that they have dubbed this general that yulia has perfectly laid out all the ruthless things he s done. the fact that they ve dubbed him, i view it as something very concerning, as something we should be really scared of and something that we should make sure we double down on immediate assistance to the ukrainian military and everything that they re asking for. yulia, thank you so much for walking us through this. later, breaking news on today s presidential election in france. incumbent macron and his far
between the fight between autocracy and democracy? well, this is a critical election because clearly there is not just a difference of philosophy or how to govern france. there s a fundamental difference about how france should act in the act in the world. marine la penn is not a particularly pro-european, pro-eu politician. she wants to withdraw france from the military-integrated command in nato. and of course, she s closely aligned with vladimir putin, having received money some years ago for her party. her election is not just a blow to france, because this is a far-right politician, anti-immigrant, very close to putin, as i said. it would have major implications for europe, and the ability of the west, which has been so united, to remain united in the focus of ukraine. it would be a real blow. the good news is that macron was
they kill animals. russia s list of civilian targets in ukraine growing with strikes against a train station, an airport, and a high-rise apartment building. the evidence of mass executions in bucha, ukraine, already prompting a historic step from the u.n. over 90 countries voting to suspend russia from the human rights council. but the long-asked lingering question, how can russia and putin be held accountable for war crimes? we re going to ask former u.s. ambassador e woe dahlder. also with us, msnbc contributor david rohde. it is good to see you both. i actually want to ask you both the same question. ambassador, i m going to begin with you because we have this breaking news out of france. president macron, it seems headed to a runoff with his rival, marine le pen. what do you make of that not just for ukraine but for this conversation, this broader conversation that we ve had